Increasing insulation on the first frosty day

September frost is the end of Alaska gardening

When living in Alaska, you pay a lot of attention to the weather forecasts as the weather can be life threatening. In fall, the threat is the first frost. Since the vegetation period is very short, gardeners like to take out their vegetables and potatoes as late as possible. Thus, in fall, they are following the forecasts very closely to not loose their harvest. When the local National Weather Forecast office predicts the first frost people tweet their friends about it, share it or post it on facebook. There are alerts on TV, and in the newspaper. Since I work in the same building as the weather forecasters I even get the “bad news” in person. Well, thanks to the correct forecast, I got my vegetables and potatoes in in time.

What to wear when the first frost arrives

The first frost is also a challenge fashion wise. Nobody feels like winter clothing already in September. Everybody is still in denial mood about that “fall” is already over, and Mr. Frosty Winter knocked at the door. So am I.

On the first frost day, i.e. the first day with nighttime temperatures below the freezing point, I wore my Eli Tahari purple sheath dress with my white leather jacket. However, doing the commute in the leather jacket would be too cold as in the morning, the temperatures were still below the freezing point. Instead of dew there was ripe on the grass, porch, roofs and on the car windows. Thus, I put my burnt red leather coat on top of the leather jacket for some extra insulation. At the office, I took off the coat and silk scarf and wore the leather jacket instead of a cardigan to add some edge to the otherwise classic outfit.